Monthly Archives: July 2015

We’re officially into summer, and Hank Stern hosts the latest edition of the Health Wonk Review, with a theme of Hot Summer Nights, Cool Summer Drinks. I encourage you to beat the heat by reading his wonderful piece, which summarizes some of the best health policy blogging of the past two weeks.

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You may recall that about 3 weeks ago, I wrote a piece on this blog in honor of my Dad and in support of a novel and important charity to fund prostate cancer research at Duke University called Give 1 For Dad. If you missed that piece, I urge you to read it here.

The charity was founded by Sam Poley, whose father, Neil, had metastatic prostate cancer. I’ve actually never met Sam or his father. I know Sam’s wife, Stephanie, from my time at the University of North Carolina. I learned of the Give 1 For Dad charity through Facebook. I visited the website, watched the video Sam posted, and found myself moved by the cause and the concept. So I did the least I could do in support: I gave a donation and I wrote my blog post urging anyone who read it to do the same. I made an appeal echoing Sam’s own–to consider what our Dads mean to us and to give accordingly.

At last count, the charity had raised just $19,000. On the one hand, that’s fantastic–it’s nearly halfway to the amount that needs to be raised for the project to begin enrolling and treating patients with cancer. On the other hand, it’s disappointing that much more hasn’t been raised already. This week, when you go out for a dinner and drop $50 or $100 without a thought, you should think again. Could you, perhaps, sacrifice on that one meal? You needn’t go without. Just scale back. Make a conscious decision to say that, rather than a fancy meal out, we’ll stay in, or order off the value menu. Take the difference and give it to the cause of Give 1 For Dad.

You may think, “Oh, I intend to give, I’ll do it next week, or the week after, or at the end of the month when I get paid.” Friends, I urge you to do it today. Time matters. People are sick now who might benefit. People will get sick tomorrow and the next day. Sadly, for some, it is now too late. Neil Poley–Sam’s father–passed away on July 4th. Yet it is not too late for those others–known to us or unknown–whom we might help through a modicum of charitable sacrifice. Indeed, to honor Mr. Poley’s memory, the family has asked for donations to Give 1 For Dad. This blog post is, once more, echoing that call in hopes of disseminating it to a wider audience. Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded us that “It may well be that we will have to repent…for the appalling silence and indifference of the good people…” I’m not asking you to give until it hurts. I’m merely asking you to give something in the hopes that it might ameliorate the hurts of others.